A chief inspector denied that Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, the second accused in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial, had not been present when certain items were allegedly recovered from his house.

In the Shah Alam High Court this morning, counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin put forward a scenario to Chief Inspector Koh Fei Cheow, 38, related to evidence-gathering at his client's house at 4.15pm on Nov 7 last year.

Kamarul : "Do you agree that you had ordered Sirul to wait in the hall while you and several officers were in (his) room for 15 minutes with the door closed?"

Koh : I disagree

Kamarul : After 15 minutes, Sirul was ordered to enter the room and ordered to hold up his jacket for pictures to be taken. Sirul was ordered to point to the objects placed in the jacket. Was he asked to do that?

Koh : I disagree.

Last Thursday, Koh who is Sirul's arresting officer, told the court that he found a ring, a watch, and a pair of broken earrings - since identified as belonging to Mongolian national Altantuya - in Sirul's jacket pocket.

Reminder from bench

Kamarul also tried to establish that Koh had no evidence that the first accused, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 31, had said anything in relation to the location where Altantuya, a Mongolian national, had been killed.

The lawyer pointed out that Azilah was not quoted in the investigation diaries written by Koh after visiting the crime scene in Puncak Alam on Nov 6 last year.

"You did not record the actual words of what Azilah said that night because he did not say anything. You have no proof of Azilah actually saying anything," he said.

The police officer of 17 years answered in the negative and explained that he would normally type his notes into the investigation diary in indirect speech because it was sufficient for him.

Based on paragraph 9 his investigation diary, Koh said Azilah, during interrogation at 5.23pm, had voluntarily said he would take Koh to the spot where a Mongolian woman had been murdered.

Paragraph 11 (copy below) of the diary stated that Azilah told Koh 'this is the spot' and showed him the two locations where the victim had allegedly been shot dead and then blown up.

Kamarul pointed out that 'showed' does not mean Azilah had actually said those words. Koh then clarified that Azilah had simultaneously showed the spots and spoken the words.

At this juncture, judge Mohd Zaki Md Yasin reminded Kamarul that he was counsel for Sirul and not Azilah, who is represented by Hazman Ahmad and J Kuldeep Kumar.

A new witness was called to testify shortly after the hearing resumed at 2.15pm.

Azilah and Sirul are charged with killing Altantuya ( photo ) between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year at a secondary forest in Puncak Alam, near Shah Alam.

Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting the murder between 9.54am on Oct 18 and 9.45pm on Oct 19 last year in Kuala Lumpur.

All three face the death penalty if convicted.